SUMMARY Wehaveproposedfiveprojectsthattogetheraddressthecausesandconsequencesofhealthcareefficiency, withaspecificfocusongapsintheevidence,clinicaldilemmas,andhealthpoliciesrelatingtotreatingthefrail elderlyandthosewithAlzheimer?sDiseaseandrelateddementia.CoreBisresponsibleforthecomprehensive datamanagementandanalyticsupportonwhichthefiveprojectsrest.Ouraimsincludefirst,tomaintaina comprehensiveandsecuredatabaseofadministrativedataincludingMedicareandMedicaidenrollmentfiles, claimsrecords,andsupplementaryfilesdevelopedundertheDartmouthAtlasandotherprojects.Thekey tasksunderthisaimentailmaintainingaccesstoanincreasinglymassivedatabaseandobtainingand preparingforanalysisadditionaldataastheybecomeavailable.Second,toobtainandmanageadditionaldata filesrequiredforthisprogramprojectgrantandtodevelopproject-specificanalyticfiles.Wewillobtaindata fromavarietyofsourcesspecificallyforthisprogramprojectgrant,includingMedicare,Medicaid,theMinimum DataSetofnursinghomecare,theHealthandRetirementStudy,andtheVascularQualityInitiative.Wewould alsocoordinateandlinkdatafromOptumLabsandBlueHealthIntelligence,andtheHealthCareCostInstitute data(throughtheNationalBureauofEconomicResearch)oncommerciallyinsuredunder-65andMedicare Advantageover-65populations.Aswell,CoreBwouldhelptocoordinatetheuseofseveralnational Dartmouthsurveysofhealthcareproviders.Third,weproposetocreateacombineddatasetthatcaptures prices,quality,andutilizationatthehospitalreferralregion(HRR)levelbasedonMedicare,Medicaid,and privateinsuranceclaimsdata.Wethenplantodevelopalternativeregionalmeasures,includingmicro-based (ZIPcode)spatialdensitymapstocapturehot-spotsinutilizationandvariousindicatorsofcarequality. Finally,incoordinationwithCoreA,tomaketheresearchfilesdevelopedunderthisprogramprojectgrant availabletotheresearchandpolicycommunity.